<div id="readability-page-1"><div>[MANILA] Philippine telecommunications firm PLDT plans to raise between US$300 million and US$400 million from the listing of a real estate investment trust (Reit) for its data centre business.This comes amid a global wave of investor interest in technology and artificial intelligence assets.The company told the stock exchange on Tuesday (Jun 9) that its board of directors approved the potential listing of a Reit for assets under its subsidiary Vitro, which operates the largest data centre network in the South-east Asian nation.Proceeds from the Reit listing, targeted for the fourth quarter, will be used to pare down debts, PLDT chairman and CEO Manuel Pangilinan told reporters.He added that initial assets to be injected into the Reit are PLDT’s eight data centres with a combined capacity of about 27 megawatts.The listing plan comes after talks with potential buyers for the data centre business fell through, Pangilinan said. “We’re not getting the kind of values we think we ought to get for the data centres.”In May 2024, PLDT was seeking a valuation “north of US$1 billion” for its data centre business, before its largest facility began operations two months later. Data centres are industrial-scale facilities filled with thousands of interconnected servers, sophisticated cooling systems and massive power infrastructure fueling the AI boom.Global investors are looking forward to upcoming listings from SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic, as firms tap into investor appetite for AI-related issuances and seek public markets’ funding for ambitious growth plans.PLDT hired UBS and BPI Capital to assist in its planned Reit listing. BLOOMBERG</div></div>

PLDT plans to raise US$300-400 million via a REIT listing for its data center business, targeting Q4. Proceeds will reduce debt. This follows failed sale talks due to valuation gaps. The move capitalizes on AI asset demand.

Top Philippine telecoms firm PLDT seeks up to US$400 million from Reit listing